NATICK - While sapís not yet flowing and Natick Community Organic Farm wasnít producing syrup Saturday, its annual Maple Magic Day festivities were in full swing on the beautiful March day.

Hundreds of families flocked to the farm for its popular tours and blueberry pancake breakfast, happy to see piglets, maple tree tapping and other signs that spring beckons.

Sap was just starting to trickle from spigots, with sugaring season already delayed by two weeks because of the bitter cold winter.

"This is perfect weather," farm Director Lynda Simkins said, glad to have temperatures warming, "but we need a month of this perfect weather."

Families started the day with pancakes before learning about the history of maple syrup production and visiting chickens, rabbits and piglets born on Valentineís Day.

Farm staff told of Native American, Colonial and modern maple sugaring techniques, showing how an evaporator most recently replaced kettles over an open fire. The earliest way to boil watery sap into sugary syrup, as teacher Deena Kanopkin demonstrated, involved moving hot rocks from the fire into a wooden trough of sap.

Staff member Karen Cacciapuoti led one tour group into the farmís cold and empty sugar shack, normally full of steam and smelling sweet this time of year.

Freezing temperatures - even in the day - have kept sap from flowing this year, she said.

"The sap is there," she told the group. "Itís just the weather that hasnít cooperated."

While there wasnít any syrup in production, there was plenty of last yearís left for the pancakes.

Tanya Maggi and David Russell came out from Hyde Park with their children, Teo, 5, and Ada, 2, for whatís become a traditional outing.

"Weíve been coming for the last five years," Maggi said. "We just love the celebration of the spring and maple syrup and pancakes and itís getting to see the farm every year."

Diane Gray and Oliver Whittington, of Natick, came for breakfast with their 4-year-old grandson Aiden, who often visits the farm and was excited to show it off to his parents.

"He knows the pigs by name," Whittington said.

Gray and Whittington said they like to support the farm, and even buy its vegetables during the summer.

All the visits on Maple Magic Day and support throughout the year are important for the nonprofit community farm, administrator Trish Wesley Umbrell said.

All the proceeds from the day go back to benefit the farmís mission of providing productive open space, farm products and hands-on education, she said.

"Community support is everything to us," she said.

Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dameden@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @damedenMW.